Category Archives: Rewerk Wednesday

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“Here in your arms, I could go all night….here in your arms, I could spend my whole life,” slays the fabulous Ms. Jennifer Hudson on the intro to “Go All Night,” just one of the many delectable deep house ditties constructed by UK beat maestros, Gorgon City.

And if our prayers our answered from the dancing kings and kweens above (please???), it’s just one of the many, many tracks we pray that they’ll serve us with when they take over the main stage at The Fillmore tomorrow night.

With their keen ears and intelligence in blending and bonding U.K. garage beats with deep house, pop sounds and A-list vocalists, Gorgon City has not only proven they’ve got what it takes to get even your god damn grandma on the dance floor, but that they’re just getting this pulsating party started. The whimsical brainchild of two North London-based producers — Foamo, aka Kye Gibbon, and Rack N Ruin, aka Matt Robson-Scott, the duo first begin infiltrating the scene in the early 2010s thanks to stand out collaborations with Wyclef Jean, Jess Glynne, as well as an exclusive tour pairing with fellow overseas (and equally beat worthy) dance act, Rudimental.

All of this red-hot certified early attention would lead Gorgon Cityto serve the world with their debut E.P. Realin 2013, which further took them to bless us with 2014’s Sirens, their first full length record….which certainly proved that these guys weren’t fucking around.

A sizzling set featuring explosive top-notch production and vocalists like MNEK (“Ready for Your Love”), Katy B (“Lover Like You”), Laura Welsh (“Here For You”), and of course, Ms. JHud (see also…”I Still Love You“…now), the record certainly gained Gorgon City the attention they deserved as it churned out hit-after-hit on the overseas and Billboard dance charts.

But just when you thought that these fine-tuned gentlemen couldn’t make us work any harder on the floor (or in the bedroom, for that matter), they recently gave us another daring dose of deep life with their long-awaited Sirens‘ follow-up, Escape. Miles away from a sophomore slump, their latest also packs quite a punch thanks to tantalizing collaborations with Kelly Kiara (“Night Drive”), Duke Dumont & Naations (“Real Life”) and Raphaella (“Kingdom”).

And if you really want to feel it, like, right this very second, you should absolutely press play on lead Escape single, “Go Deep,” a thunderous anthem featuring saucy vocals from U.K. diva, Kamilla, that’s guaranteed to take you all the way...there. Really, who doesn’t want that?

However, there is one more way you can truly feel all of these aforementioned grooves…..by getting tickets to witness Gorgon City own your dance music life, because chances are, they’re coming to a city near you….

…..and Philly, you better get those tickets and prepare to go all night tomorrow night because it’s truly the only way to live when it comes to anything and everything that Gorgon Cityhas served out for us over the years.

Although he’s only been owning the dance music scene for a short time, DJ/producer Marshmello has certainly made his mark on dance floors and dance charts across the globe.

But perhaps his greatest attribute is the fact that in comparison with fellow beat maestros Deadmau5 and Daft Punk (and maybe Sia?), nobody really knows the person behind the grooves as Marshmello dons a crossed out marshmallow helmet during shows to conceal his true identity.

Born Christopher Comstock(allegedly?) right here in the City of Brotherly Love, Marshmello began to pursue his career here in the city, but soon moved to L.A. to jump into it full-time. Getting his true start in 2015 after releasing some of his high-powered tracks (go here) online, the rising star quickly blew up and would soon find himself working with Zedd, Noah Cyrus, Logic, Khalid, Juicy J, Anne-Marie and many, many others. This was all while the red-hot dance floor destroyer was making himself even more known by performing at hot-spots like New York’s Pier 94, Miami Music Week, Las Vegas’ Electric Daisy Carnival and Mad Decent Block Party.

Of course, most of Marshmello‘s good fortunes stem from his 2017 collaboration with Selena Gomez–the life-altering, “Wolves”–which is still taking Billboard charts all over the world by storm. You don’t have to be a fan of dance music to appreciate the bounce that’s served all up in this now classic dance burner. But indeed it’s all going to be on display on the stage at Festival Pier weekend, so get those tickets while you can and of course….may you forever respect the DJ.

An electronic genius, EDM sensation and now music legend in his own right, the Billboard dance chart superstar first burst onto the scene in 2008 as a friend and “student,’ if you will, of fellow DJ and dance floor destroyer, Laidback Luke. It was from their budding friendship that Avicii would learn to hone his unique craft by serving up a buffet of remixes that would eventually lead to his first breakthrough banger–the 2011 global smash, “Levels.”

Born in Stockholm in 1989, Avicii (real name…Tim Bergling) began brainstorming beats and making music in his late-teens while up in the bedroom at his parent’s house (as all future DJs do), which also became a place where he would upload them on the web for headphones across the world to pay attention to…and that they certainly did.

With his unique blend of tribal vibes and divinely thunderous influences thanks to the likes of Steve Angello and Daft Punk, Avicii’s elegant ear worms not only caught the ears of, like, everyone, but DJs from all over, one in particular being Tiesto who brought Avicii on to slay a weekly residency at red-hot Ibizahotspot, Privilege. Yes.

If you’ll also recall (really, how can we f@cking forget?), it was also right around this time that Avicii’s dance floor co-stars Calvin Harris, Swedish House Mafia, Otto Knows, and what seemed liked millions of others, made their dance floor debuts right around this time, which made it allthat much more shimmering and special.

So, Avicii‘s now legendary collection of now classic grooves–really, where the f@ck do we begin? “Seek Bromance,” “My Feeling’s For You,” “I Could Be the One” with Nicky Romero, “Siilhouttes.” “Collide” (Leona!), “Fade into Darkness,” “Superlove”(Lenny!) “You Make Me,” of course, “Levels,” and “Hey Brother,” all of which will now be embedded into our dance floor souls forever.

But if there’s one track that truly takes it to the next, um, level, it’s the country-meets-EDM-meets-life Billboard chart owning 2013 banger,”Wake Me Up,” Avicii’s collaboration with Aloe Blac. A bulldozer of a radio groove, the energetic anthem-for-the-ages not only nestled itself inside the top five of the Billboard Hot 100, but became a true shimmering piece of dance music history, and we’ll forever be most grateful for everything “Wake Me Up” has to offer.

But then of course….there’s the rewerks. Oh, brother, how Avicii’s many, many remixes for what’s certainly dozens of music artists from all walks of life will hold their own through the disco sands of time. Among his list of standout pairings during his decade long career are Wynter Gordon, Little Boots, Rita Ora, Coldplay, Felix Jaehn and Richard Searle, just to name a few. By the way, Avicii’s final studio offering, 2015’s excellent Life, will indeed give you the life you never thought you had. It’s that good.

Although Avicii decided to give up touring a couple of years back due to impending health concerns, his love for the craft and truly remarkable body of werk outshone anything else that was going on in personal life, which is something we should never forget. Avicii’s unique vision carved itself into time where EDM was actually EDM–perhaps the last great wave of a genre that stays just under the mainstream surface except for a standout few, with him always being a true player on top of his game.

Rest in Peace, Avicii and may you forever wake us up on the dance floor of this crazy little thing called life.